Tile Installation Assembly

ABSTRACT

A tile installation assembly for leveling floor tile during installation includes a handle that has a foot thereon for inserting beneath a floor tile being installed on a floor. The foot is tapered between the handle and an end of the foot for raising the floor tile to a preferred height as the foot is pushed under the floor tile. A grip is coupled to the handle and the grip is oriented transverse with the handle thereby enhancing a user&#39;s ability to rotate the handle. A cushion is positioned around the grip and the cushion is comprised of a resiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping the grip.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

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STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

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THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT

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INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC OR ASA TEXT FILE VIA THE OFFICE ELECTRONIC FILING SYSTEM

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STATEMENT REGARDING PRIOR DISCLOSURES BY THE INVENTOR OR JOINT INVENTOR

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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION (1) Field of the Invention

The disclosure relates to tile installation devices and moreparticularly pertains to a new tile installation device for levelingfloor tile during installation.

(2) Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37CFR 1.97 and 1.98

The prior art relates to tile installation devices. The prior artdiscloses a tile lifting tool that includes a handle and a hook forengaging, and lifting, floor tile for leveling. The prior art disclosesa tile spacer removing tool for cutting tile spacers for removal afterfloor tiles have been installed. The prior art disclose a variety oftile pry bars for inserting beneath a floor tile for levering the floortile into a level position. The prior art discloses a molding removaltool that includes a handle and a blade oriented transverse to thehandle.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above bygenerally comprising a handle that has a foot thereon for insertingbeneath a floor tile being installed on a floor. The foot is taperedbetween the handle and an end of the foot for raising the floor tile toa preferred height as the foot is pushed under the floor tile. A grip iscoupled to the handle and the grip is oriented transverse with thehandle thereby enhancing a user's ability to rotate the handle. Acushion is positioned around the grip and the cushion is comprised of aresiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping the grip.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more importantfeatures of the disclosure in order that the detailed descriptionthereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that thepresent contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There areadditional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafterand which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features ofnovelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out withparticularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of thisdisclosure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)

The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than thoseset forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to thefollowing detailed description thereof. Such description makes referenceto the annexed drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a tile installation assemblyaccording to an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a right side view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a perspective in-use view of an embodiment of the disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 1 through5 thereof, a new tile installation device embodying the principles andconcepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated bythe reference numeral 10 will be described.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5, the tile installation assembly10 generally comprises a handle 12 having a foot 14 thereon forinserting beneath a floor tile 16 being installed on a floor 18. Thefoot 14 is tapered between the handle 12 and an end of the foot 14 toraise the floor tile 16 to a preferred height as the foot 14 is pushedunder the floor tile 16. The handle 12 has a top end 20 and a bottom end22, and the handle 12 is elongated along a longitudinal axis extendingthrough the top end 20 and the bottom end 22. Additionally, the handle12 has a length of at least 4.0 inches.

The foot 14 is positioned adjacent to the bottom end 22 and the foot 14is oriented to extend along a perpendicular axis with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the handle 12. The foot 14 has a top surface 24 anda bottom surface 26, and the bottom surface 26 is aligned with thebottom end 22 of the handle 12. The bottom surface 26 lies on a planethat is coplanar with the bottom end 22 and the top surface 24 slopesdownwardly between the handle 12 and the end of the foot 14. Moreover,the foot 14 has a maximum thickness of at least 0.75 inches and aminimum thickness of at least 0.125 inches. In this way the foot 14 canlift the floor tile 16 to an appropriate height, commonly encounteredduring floor tile installation, for leveling the floor tile 16 withadjacent floor tiles 16.

A grip 28 is provided and the grip 28 is coupled to the handle 12 forgripping. The grip 28 is oriented transverse with the handle 12 therebyenhancing a user's ability to rotate the handle 12. The grip 28 ispositioned on the top end 20 of the handle 12 and the grip 28 has abottom surface 29. The bottom surface 29 of the grip 28 has a pluralityof valleys 30 to accommodate the user's fingers for enhancing grippingthe grip 28. A cushion 32 is positioned around the grip 28 and thecushion 32 is comprised of a resiliently compressible material forenhancing gripping the grip 28.

In use, the grip 28 is gripped and the foot 14 is placed on the floor 18upon which the floor tile 16 is being installed. The grip 28 is rotatedthereby facilitating the foot 14 to slide beneath the floor tile 16. Inthis way the floor tile 16 can be raised for leveling the floor tile 16with adjacent floor tiles 16. Moreover, the handle 12 can be tilted tolift the floor tile 16 higher than permitted by the thickness of thefoot 14. Thus, each floor tile 16 can be installed on the floor 18 withprecision and accurate leveling.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized thatthe optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodimentenabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials,shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, aredeemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and allequivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings anddescribed in the specification are intended to be encompassed by anembodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of theprinciples of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications andchanges will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operationshown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications andequivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of thedisclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used inits non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word areincluded, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. Areference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not excludethe possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.

I claim:
 1. A tile installation assembly being configured to lift afloor tile during installation that has a low area, said assemblycomprising: a handle having a foot thereon wherein said foot isconfigured to be inserted beneath a floor tile being installed on afloor, said foot being tapered between said handle and an end of saidfoot wherein said foot is configured to raise the floor tile to apreferred height as said foot is pushed under the floor tile; a gripbeing coupled to said handle wherein said grip is configured to begripped, said grip being oriented transverse with said handle therebyenhancing a user's ability to rotate said handle; and a cushion beingpositioned around said grip, said cushion being comprised of aresiliently compressible material for enhancing gripping said grip. 2.The assembly according to claim 1, wherein said handle has a top end anda bottom end, said handle being elongated along a longitudinal axisextending through said top end and said bottom end, said foot beingpositioned adjacent to said bottom end, said foot being oriented toextend along a perpendicular axis with respect to said longitudinal axisof said handle.
 3. The assembly according to claim 2, wherein said foothas a top surface and a bottom surface, said bottom surface beingaligned with said bottom end of said handle, said bottom surface lyingon a plane being coplanar with said bottom end, said top surface slopingdownwardly between said handle and said end of said foot.
 4. Theassembly according to claim 1, wherein said handle has a length of atleast 4.0 inches.
 5. The assembly according to claim 1, wherein saidfoot has a maximum thickness of at least 0.75 inches and a minimumthickness of at least 0.125 inches wherein said foot is configured tolift the floor tile to an appropriate height for leveling the floor tilewith adjacent floor tiles.
 6. The assembly according to claim 1, whereinsaid grip is positioned on a top end of said handle, said grip having abottom surface, said bottom surface having a plurality of valleyswherein each of said valleys is configured to accommodate the user'sfingers for enhancing gripping said grip.
 7. A tile installationassembly being configured to lift a floor tile during installation thathas a low area, said assembly comprising: a handle having a foot thereonwherein said foot is configured to be inserted beneath a floor tilebeing installed on a floor, said foot being tapered between said handleand an end of said foot wherein said foot is configured to raise thefloor tile to a preferred height as said foot is pushed under the floortile, said handle having a top end and a bottom end, said handle beingelongated along a longitudinal axis extending through said top end andsaid bottom end, said foot being positioned adjacent to said bottom end,said foot being oriented to extend along a perpendicular axis withrespect to said longitudinal axis of said handle, said foot having a topsurface and a bottom surface, said bottom surface being aligned withsaid bottom end of said handle, said bottom surface lying on a planebeing coplanar with said bottom end, said top surface sloping downwardlybetween said handle and said end of said foot, said handle having alength of at least 4.0 inches, said foot having a maximum thickness ofat least 0.75 inches and a minimum thickness of at least 0.125 incheswherein said foot is configured to lift the floor tile to an appropriateheight for leveling the floor tile with adjacent floor tiles; a gripbeing coupled to said handle wherein said grip is configured to begripped, said grip being oriented transverse with said handle therebyenhancing a user's ability to rotate said handle, said grip beingpositioned on said top end of said handle, said grip having a bottomsurface, said bottom surface having a plurality of valleys wherein eachof said valleys is configured to accommodate the user's fingers forenhancing gripping said grip; and a cushion being positioned around saidgrip, said cushion being comprised of a resiliently compressiblematerial for enhancing gripping said grip.